Meggie and Basta
by Spanglishninja
Summary: When Meggie escapes from Capricorn with her family they don't find her for another 11 years. This is about what happens when Meggie is found by Basta and brought back to the village. Please R&R
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

Meggie

The sun shone down onto Meggie's head and brought out the golden tones in her pale blond hair. It was a beautiful day without a cloud in sight and it made Meggie smile. She loved the way the sun's rays would fall on her skin and warm her from the inside out. It was days like this that Meggie couldn't help but think that she didn't have a care in the world and that she was free, but deep down she knew that was not the case. She always felt like a fugitive, which was not far from the truth. Every day she lived in terror that Capricorn and his men would catch up with her and carry her back to their village which she had visited once when she was just a 12 year old girl.

And at the moment that thought was brought to the front of her mind. She could almost feel Capricorn's colorless gaze boring into her back and Basta's knife pricking the sensitive skin of her throat. Shivering she pulled the pale green shawl that she was wearing closer around her thin shoulders and quickly pushed the thought away, continuing towards her job. _Drop it Meggie. It's been 11 years. What are the chances that the Black Jackets are going to find you now? After changing your last name at Mo's insistence, moving to a different country and continent, and finding a job that's below the radar. Besides, they'd leave me alone once they realized that Mo was no longer here._ She suddenly shifted her attention to anything and everything, not wanting to cry at the memories of her father.

She climbed the steps into the large Library where she worked as one of the head Librarians. She loved working here. What job could possibly better? She was surrounded by the things she loved, books. Her passion for books had not dimmed in the slightest from her childhood with her bookbinding Father, if anything it had grown.

The Library was large with lots of space and cozy furniture were scattered all around where patrons could sit and read comfortably. The floors were made of a rich colored wood and the bookshelves were made from the same kind of wood. In many ways this place reminded Meggie of a college library, although, all the picture books spoiled the image. At the front desk Meggie's friend Yolanda looked up from something she was cataloging. She smiled and her bright eyes crinkled around the corners although she did look a little sad. "Meggie? I thought you decided not to come today."

The woman was in her mid-fifties with short red hair that was as straight as a ruler and fell down to her chin, green eyes that always seemed to glitter and a small scattering of freckles along the bridge of her nose. Meggie just shook her head and headed behind the counter where only employees were allowed and set down her work bag and purse down where no sticky fingered teenagers could see it. "Nope, you know my rules about work Yolanda. I come in everyday to make sure there's no riff raff. Today is the same as any other."

Yolanda gave a weary sigh and ran a hand through her bright red hair that was beginning to streak with several strands of silver. "And here I was thinking I had finally convinced you to take a vacation. I should've known it was too good to be true. You are the biggest work-a-holic I have ever met."

Meggie just shrugged and got to work replacing books on the shelf or occasionally moving a book that had been put in the wrong place by someone who wasn't polite enough to put it back where it belonged. "I can't just sit around and do nothing all day. What would I do? I have to be doing something! It's just in my nature."

"I know, but you act as if it's a matter of life or death that you be here. I doubt that the Library would catch on fire or a meteoroid would come crashing down on the Library on the one day you're gone. Not that you could do much about it." She said with a laugh.

Meggie stiffened before regaining her composure and continued shelving. Yolanda's comment about it being a life or death situation had been precisely accurate and Meggie had feared that she had somehow figured out the one thing that she was hiding something from everyone. "Maybe not, but everyone that comes in here seems to like me, so why disappoint them with my absence?"

"Yes," the older woman said with an odd glint in her emerald green eyes. "Everyone does like you, especially the men."

Meggie gave a humph but didn't give her friend a second glance. She had heard this little speech at least a hundred and one times. _I don't want to hear it today. I really don't. _But the woman went on. Ignoring Meggie's humph as if it had never happened. "You can't ignore the way they look at you. You are a very pretty woman after all. Perhaps it's time that you actually started dating…"

Meggie held up a hand in an effort to silence her. "I already told you no. How many times must I say it in order to get it through that thick skull of yours?"

"At least one more, oh come on Meggie." She pleaded. "You're still young. And just the other day I say this really cute guy that would be perfect for you he seems really nice and…" Yolanda broke off at the glare Meggie had leveled on her.

"Yolanda," She said with a startlingly firm voice. "No, I have my reasons for not dating, and I wish you would respect my wishes a little more. If you knew about it you would understand. Just please, don't."

The red haired Librarian seemed surprised at the grim conviction in Meggie's tone. She had heard her say this before, but now the whole weight of her statement came crashing down on her. "Oh," She said quietly, and then said in an even quieter voice that Meggie had to strain to hear. "You don't have any kind of criminal record do you?"

At that the younger woman burst out in giggles. "No, I can assure you that is not the case. And in case you're wondering, I am a legal citizen, I am not running from the law, and I do not have some fatal disease."

A smile spread over Yolanda's face and her face turned a light shade of pink. "Sorry, my imagination got carried away, that's all."

Meggie just nodded in an effort to appear nonchalant. In truth, Yolanda wouldn't have been able to guess what it had been even in her wildest of dreams. "That's all right. I'm just surprised you waited this long to ask me."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Basta

Basta stood in front of Capricorn's throne with Cockerell and Flatnose just a few feet behind him. Capricorn sat there studying them all as if looking for some imperfection, his pale eyes shifted over all three of them. He was just as pale as ever and looked even more so with his blood red robe that greatly contrasted against his almost white skin, eyes and hair. Although most people found the man's appearance shocking Basta wouldn't have wanted it any other way.

The church was not like most. All its walls were painted a bright red and Capricorn's throne sat where the pulpit would have normally gone. Not only that, there was also a crudely made statue in the Black Jackets' Master's likeness. The sculptor who had carved it had paid dearly for the lack of resemblance. Capricorn gave a small nod of approval as though they had all passed his inspection. "I have a job for you three." He said with his voice steady and level.

"Yes?" Cockerell said, enthusiasm lacing his voice. "We'll do anything master."

The pale man nodded and looked straight at the man who had just spoken. "Yes, as I would expect all of you to do. You shouldn't have to assure me of that Cockerell." He said quietly. His voice was still steady and relaxed, he even studied his fingernails, but the man flinched as if he had been struck.

"Yes, of course Master." He said bowing his head till he was staring at the floor.

"What do you wish us to do Master?" Basta said with a glare in his fellow Black Jacket's direction.

"Do you remember Signore Giordano?" When all three of them nodded he continued. "Well, it seems that rather than pay his debts to me he has decided to move away in order to avoid compensating me. Now, we must make an example of him. If every man who owes us finds out that they can simply move to another country to avoid contact with us then we would be without money. You must find him and either bring him back or eliminate him, it is your choice, but I want him to pay for trying to hoodwink us. Do all of you understand?"

All of the man nodded vigorously. "Do we know where he moved to?" Basta said in a silky purr of a voice not unlike a cat's.

"Yes, he went over to America. I believe the place was called Chester, Arkansas."

Basta nodded again. "We won't fail you Master."

"You'd better not. I am not a very forgiving person Basta." He paused for a second as if considering something. "And make sure you check out all the Libraries and bookstores there, every single one of them. Because as unlikely as it is that we've missed a copy we can't be too safe. And if you find any copies of Ink heart I want you to bring it back here, same as always. And if anyone acts suspicious I want you to interrogate them."

The Black Jackets nodded as smiles stole across their faces. Just about everyone in the village enjoyed interrogating people. "You may leave now. I expect you to be gone first thing in the morning."

They all knew that if they were not gone by that time they would be severely punished. None of them were eager to find out in just what form the punishment would take. They backed out of the church and into the dazzlingly bright day with one last bow to the man sitting on his throne. As soon as the doors closed behind them they all straightened up and began to joke with one another, laughing uproariously. "I don't care if we don't find the book. I'm just hoping that we get to interrogate some unfortunate fellow." Cockerell said with a lazy smile.

Basta nodded his agreement and kissed the blade of his knife with a knowing smile which earned him laughs from the other men. "Ever been to America Basta?" Flatnose said in his strained voice which was at the moment filled with excitement.

"Nope, and I can't say I want to go back either. America is crawling with cops, and the ones over there aren't bribed like the cops here." Then he suddenly smiled devilishly. "Although I must say, the women sure are something to look at. Don't wear much either."

Cockerell grinned and burst out laughing. "Good, I must say, I think I'm going to enjoy myself over there."

"Remember, business before pleasure. We can pick up a few girls after our affair is settled but not before." Basta growled out.

"Ah Basta, you're such a spoilsport. Not even one girl? But then again you don't have to wait for anyone. You never were any good with the ladies like I am." He said wickedly.

"Yeah, that leg of yours is a real chic magnet Cockerell; drives all the ladies nuts." He muttered under his breath.

The man gave him a scorching glare. "Yeah well, at least I can land a woman without paying her, and even then you still can't get one to sleep with you. Man, not very good at pleasing the girlies are ya?"

Basta unsheathed his knife and lashed out with it at Cockerell. It would have slashed across his face if he hadn't taken an instinctive step backwards. "Say that again you Bastard and I swear, I'll cut your tongue out and feed it to the crows. You got that?" When he didn't answer right away Basta grabbed the front of his leather jacket and shook him violently. "Did you hear me?"

"Yeah I heard ya!" He said practically shouting to make sure he heard him. Reluctantly Basta released his grip on the man and eased away from him. "Geez Basta, get a grip on yourself." He said as he straightened his jacket and smoothed down his hair again into his usual Mohawk again which had become untidy from Basta's unmerciful shaking. "I do hope you'll be in a better mood tomorrow. I would hate to travel with you when you're mad." And with that he walked away.

Basta watched him go. His hand which held his knife shook violently. When he caught Flatnose staring at him, he raised his weapon threateningly. "What are you looking at? You want to comment on my sex life too?"

Flatnose shook his head vehemently as he backed away from him, his palms raised in the air. Then without another word Flatnose dashed off down the street to his house. As stupid as that giant was, he was smart enough to get out of his way when he was angry. Muttering under his breath Basta turned and walked down the street to where his house stood.

It was a normal day in the village. There were a couple of cats basking in the evening sun, maids scurried around some cleaning and cooking while others tailed in the vegetable and herb gardens, and a few Black Jackets patrolled the streets. Basta ignored them all and continued to walk leisurely down the street.

He spent the rest of the day lying around his house, going to the dining hall for the maids to prepare his dinner, and finally getting ready for bed. Basta hesitated as he approached his bed. Cockerell hadn't been kidding when he said he had trouble getting a woman, any woman really, even when they weren't too pretty to look at. It still caused him some embarrassment that he was still a virgin. It might have been comical to someone else to find out that one of Capricorn's men, his right hand man at that, was still a virgin. Basta crawled into bed and settled down under the sheets. Even though he might not get a girl, he was going to enjoy himself in America.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

Basta

It was pouring down freezing rain in the city of Chester, Arkansas and Basta felt like smiling. He loved the rain, he wasn't quite sure why, but he did. He knew that later it would freeze and the water on the road would turn to ice and become a driving hazard to everyone on the road. But that wouldn't be the case for them. They would finish up one last stop and then leave this little city behind them.

Cockerell was driving with his eye practically glued on the road, making sure that they wouldn't be in some kind of accident. Flatnose sat beside him in the passenger seat playing Tetris on a junky old phone. Basta meanwhile did nothing. He just sat in the backseat staring outside into the frigid rain. He didn't particularly like Arkansas, but he had seen worse in his travels. Flatnose had been absolutely ecstatic when they had finally landed in America even though the airport had looked as if it was about to fall down at any moment.

They had caught up with Signore Giordano in his small little suburban home where he lived with his younger son. When they had found the man he had begged for mercy, he had even gotten down on his knees to beg but they showed absolutely no mercy on him. He should have paid his debt to Capricorn when he still had the chance. The man's son had been at school so they hadn't had to punish him. From now on he was out of their lives. They would've already been on a plane back to the village but they still needed to see if there were any remaining copies of Inkheart. As unlikely as it was that they could have missed it when scouring the globe for the cursed book they were still required to look for everywhere they went.

They had already been to two Half Price Books, several retail stores, a pawn shop and most of the Libraries in this little town. So far they had found nothing, not even a trace of the book which suited them just fine. They would much rather never see that book again for as long as they lived. They all drove in silence for several minutes before Cockerell slammed on the brakes of his huge black SUV. "There it is. I almost missed it." His brow furrowed a bit. "You can barely see the place from the road with all these trees. You'd have to actually know it was there. I think it looks promising." He said and with that he pulled into the Library's parking lot which seemed to be busier than any of the others they had visited.

It was a large two story building made of red bricks and lots of windows on the second floor. There was a sign by the entrance that said: _Chester Public Library_ in big brass colored letters. "Good, this looks very promising." Cockerell said with a cackle. The others had looked run down just like everything else in the place. He was just about to pull into one of the vacant parking spots when a woman ran right in front of the van without looking. Cockerell slammed on the brakes, probably not wanting to have to make a dash from the police for a hit and run, just in time so that the car's bumper came a foot away from the woman.

Basta couldn't tell exactly what the woman looked like on account of the lack of light outside. But he could vaguely make out a skirt that came down to her knees and what looked like a dark blue sweater plastered to her torso. He held a jacket over her head in an effort to keep herself out of the cold rain and failing miserably. When she heard the brakes squeal she looked up in alarm to see them stop right in front of her. "Oh, I'm so sorry. I really should start looking where I'm going. It's a bad habit of mine and I can't seem to shake it." She shouted in an effort for them to hear her inside the car.

Cockerell just nodded and motioned with his hand for the woman to move. The woman quickly darted out of the way to let them park and waited for them beside the large sign. Basta sighed in irritation. "Do you think she's going to apologize again?"

"Probably," Cockerell answered before stepping out of the van and into the rain.

Basta and Flatnose followed suit and stepped out into the pour. They didn't hurry over to the Library on account of them not really caring if they got wet. The woman still waited for them beside the door and smiled when they finally reached her. "I really am sorry you know." She said to them with a shake of her head. "Usually people don't come in this late."

"That's alright," Flatnose said with a broad smile at her, probably hoping she would stop talking.

"Do you work here?" Basta asked briskly wanting to get this over with as soon as possible.

The woman looked surprised "Why yes, I do work here. Is there something I can help you three with?" She asked clearly being the cheerful and helpful sort of person.

"Yes, we're looking for a certain book and we didn't know if you carried it, you see there aren't very many copies left and we've just been dying to read it. "It's called Inkheart." Basta said with a smirk.

The woman pondered that for a second, murmuring the book's name over and over. "Hmm, I'm not sure if we have that, though I can't be sure. I would have to check the Library's computer to make sure though. My memory's not what it used to be. So go ahead and come inside, it might take a while." She said and entered the brick building expecting them to follow. With a grumble of discontent the three Black Jackets followed after her.

In the Library's light they could see the woman was in her mid-fifties with short red hair, quite tall, and had freckled adorning her nose. She might have been pretty at one time in her life. "Alright let's see here." She said as she stared at the computer screen, her green eyes narrowed as if she was having trouble seeing the screen. "Well it seems out system is down at the moment, probably because it's almost closing time. But I can always ask one of the other Librarians. When it comes to books she has a memory like an elephant. I'll just go get her. You stay right here." She said in an almost stern voice, and then she disappeared into a room behind the front desk.

The Black Jackets waited impatiently at time tapping their toes or drumming his fingers on the wooden checkout counter. The woman returned after several minutes with a downcast look on her face. "I'm sorry, I can't seem to find her at the moment…no wait, there she is." Her face instantly lit up. "Meggie dear, come on over here. I need your help with something." She called to the other side of the room.

They turned around to see a young woman in her early twenties approaching them. Basta saw out of the corner of his eye Cockerell's eyes bulge out of their sockets when he saw her and knew that his face might look similar to his partner's, which could be understood. She was gorgeous with long pale blonde hair, lightly toned skin and eyes as blue as the sky. She wore simple faded jeans that clung to her frame and a white blouse. She didn't seem to look at them as she brushed past them and beside the re haired woman. "Do you really need help Yolanda? Or is this just another one of your schemes?" She said with a small smile.

"I really do need help dear." Yolanda said with a smile. "These Gentlemen want to know if we have a particular book and the computers are down so I need you to tell me."

All three men almost laughed when she said the word Gentlemen. She was way off on that key point. Meggie sighed in a tone that was almost exasperated before trying the computer to see if her friend was actually telling the truth. Apparently she lied about the computer a lot. When she was satisfied she turned to look at Basta and his comrades with an almost puzzled expression. It could almost be considered recognition although Basta was sure they had never met before. He would remember her, although, there was something about her…"What's the title of the book sir?" She asked with a bright smile aimed in their direction.

Cockerell smiled trying to win her over with the charm he had bragged about just the other day. "Inkheart," He said not ever taking his eyes off of the girl.

Something flashed across the woman's face and her eyes widened a bit but other than that her face remained neutral. Basta looked at his companions to see if they had seen the same thing he had and was met with puzzled stares. So he hadn't imagined it after all. "No," She said in a slightly clipped voice which surprised them all. "We don't have that book. _Nobody _has that book."

Yolanda looked surprised. "Are you sure? How do you know that?"

Meggie was completely stiff as she answered. "Someone stole all the copies over ten years ago, every single one of them."

"How do you know that? You would have only been a child then." She asked pressing her.

The younger woman seemed ill at ease. "My Father loved books, he had a copy but it was stolen from us when we were gone on vacation. He was sad to see it go."

"Oh, that's too mad child." The woman said sympathetically.

She nodded slowly then looked at the clock which read 5 minutes till 8 0' Clock. "Hey do you mind if I check some books out? I'm running kind of low on things to read at home."

Yolanda smiled. "If only that were humanly possible, sure go ahead."

The three men went back outside where the freezing rain had turned into a flurry of snowflakes. "Did you see the look on the girl's face when you mentioned Inkheart?" Flatnose said uneasily.

"Of course, I think she knows more than she's telling though. What do you think Basta?" Cockerell growled out. He loathed asking Basta for his opinion and everyone knew it.

"Let's…" He broke off when Meggie came out of the Library carrying a stack of so many books that Basta was surprised that she could carry them all. He watched her as she struggled to unlock the door to a small silver car before climbing inside, starting the engine and driving away. "Let's find out where she lives and then when she goes to sleep we can go inside and see what we find." Cockerell nodded grievously before starting the car and driving after her with the headlights turned off.

She pulled into the driveway of a small red brick house with Lilacs along the outer wall and several large trees towering in the yard. They saw her get out and hurried into the house. Slowly they crept out of the van and hid beneath the windows. Basta peered over the window seal to see the woman hurrying around her living room. She had changed into black jeans and a black sweater just like they were except they looked good on her. She held a large jerry can in her delicate hands and was drizzling the contents of the container on every piece of furniture, carpet, and belonging. Basta frowned. "Flatnose, go around the house. See if there are any open windows."

The giant nodded once and tiptoed off. Basta and Cockerell returned to looking at the young woman in the house. Occasionally her eyes would dart toward the windows as if she expected something to pop out. "I hope she's not hiding something." Cockerell said. "It would be a shame to harm such a pretty thing." Basta grunted in his assent and almost missed the next thing he said. "She looks familiar doesn't she? I just can't put my finger on it. What about you?"

Basta nodded and he turned around to see Flatnose rounding the corner of the house. "Found a window that hadn't been latched correctly." He said with his strained voice, sounding extremely pleased with himself.

Without another word the men crawling in through the open space and found themselves inside what must have been the woman's bedroom. The walls were painted such a faint blue that it was almost white. Against the far wall was a bed covered in pale sheets and a nightstand with several books resting on it. Cockerell went over and rifled through the stack of pages and snorted with disgust. "Nothing," He snarled.

When they stepped into the hallway Basta stiffened at the smell of Gasoline. They crept down the hallway and came out in the living room where they found the woman. She was across the room with her back turned to them and hanging from her shoulders was a small bag with a small rectangular shaped bulge. Basta cleared his throat. Startled, the girl whirled around and her blue eyes widened at the sight of them. Basta couldn't help smiling at her expression. "Surprised to see us?" He chuckled.

The girl jutted her chin out defiantly and shook her head. "No, not after today." She said with a strangely steady voice. Basta looked closely at her and saw no fear, just acceptance.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: Sorry, forgot to write disclaimers for other chapters so here it is.**

**I do not own any of the characters. They belong to Cornelia Funke. I only own Yolanda and Signore Giordano. There, I'm done.**

**I would like to thank Nana for being the first to review as well as Mana Black, Fire Rage7, Oiseau de Nuit, and h8rt4u for adding me to their list of favorites. It makes me a happy person!**

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><p><strong>Chapter Four<strong>

Basta

The girl's sharp eyes traveled over them slowly. "You haven't changed at all since the last time I saw you." She murmured in a soft voice that was not meant to be heard.

Cockerell raised a curious eyebrow. "Oh really? We thought you looked familiar. Could you perhaps refresh our memories?"

"No," the young woman said curtly. "I don't think so."

"Well if you know us so well than you must know why we're here." Cockerell grumbled.

She just nodded and clutched the bag she held to her breasts. Basta zeroed in on the small bag, knowing what must be inside. "We don't want to hurt you-"She snorted as if she didn't believe that for a second. "Just give us the book and you can walk away unharmed there doesn't have to be any violence here tonight, come on now, and just give us the bag." He held out his hand to her expecting the girl to give him what he wanted.

"Hah," Meggie spat contemptuously. "You're all still liars like always. Surely Capricorn will want to know how I've managed to keep this copy for so long after he came here."

"Well now, how did you know about that little detail? Knowing us is not so unusual, we seem to be quite famous actually, but knowing about Capricorn is something else entirely."

She stiffened in horror probably realizing that she had let a piece of information slip. She took a step backwards toward the wall. "I'm afraid you're going to have to come with us now. It seems the situation has changed." He took a step toward her and regretted it almost instantly. He had noticed the look in her eyes. It was the king of look a frightened animal might have when it was cornered. When he took that step she bolted into the next room.

Cursing, Basta and the other Black Jackets followed after her. They saw that the room she had entered was the kitchen with an island in the middle of the room. She was rummaging through a drawer as though her life depended on it. Basta smiled wickedly. Foolish girl, he thought. He took another step toward her but froze when she turned around. Apparently she had been looking for a weapon of some sort, and had found it. She clutched a knife that she no doubt used for chopping vegetables in both her trembling hands as if it weighed a ton.

He was about to take another step forward when Flatnose beat him to it. At his sudden movement she waved the knife in the air as if she was carving something with it. "Stay back, I will use this. Don't thing I won't." Her words were firm and steady and there was not a doubt in Basta's mind that she would follow through on her threat.

Hesitantly, as if she didn't believe they would stay still she edged toward the sink and grabbed a silver picture frame that had been placed on a ledge just above the sink. With another threatening wave of her knife she turned and darted outside into her garage. They quickly started after her and were about to reach out and grab her by the shoulders she slammed the door in his face and locked it. Both Basta and Cockerell tried to break down the wooden door, but it was sturdy and wouldn't budge an inch. Only when they heard the door to her car slam before Cockerell shouted out "What are you waiting for you dolt? She's getting away, break down the door!"

He was addressing Flatnose which wasn't a surprise to anybody. He was probably the strongest of all the Black Jackets and was usually submitted to jobs that involved brute strength. With a grateful sigh the man took one step back then charged at the open door. It only took one try for the door to come crashing down. They were greeted with the sight of Meggie driving out of the garage, her eyes wide.

With a curse Basta dashed out to the car and then turned back to see what was taking the others so long. Cockerell's limp that he had suffered ever since he was read out had hindered him so that he was dragging himself along in the snow which had risen quite a lot while they had been inside. "Flatnose, just carry him! We don't have time for any delays right now!" He snarled at the giant.

When all of the men had gotten in Basta sped down the road to where he could see the girl's tail lights rounding a corner. He had gotten his drivers' license only two years ago, but he had quickly mastered the art of driving. He was able to drive faster than the other men and still avoid crashing, which was good especially tonight when there was lots of black ice on the road. He followed the woman around for about 5 minutes before he finally started gaining on her. She was a good driver and was able to keep out of his reach for another 10 minutes. The car chase ceased however after Meggie's car skidded on a patch of ice and veered off the road.

The small car must have hit something because it flipped a couple of times before crashing into a tree which stopped its progress completely. "Shit," Basta muttered as he put the car in park before getting out of the car.

"Good job Basta," Cockerell snarled. "You weren't supposed to get her into an accident like that."

"Shut up, I didn't mean to. She's probably fine any way." He shouted back at him as he hurried over to where the car had come to a stop.

"With a small car like that? Not very likely, she's probably dead. Great, we needed her alive to give us some answers and you go off and kill her." Cockerell continued in an effort to grate on Basta's nerves.

When he reached the car he cupped his hands and peered into the driver's side window. The car had come to a stop upside down and the woman was suspended only by her seatbelt with her long blond hair streaming down over her face. Grumbling under his breath he smashed the window and poked his head inside. He hadn't needed her to close her eyes because she was knocked out cold with a large gash on her head that was seeping into her blond hair. The bag she had held was sitting on the floor of the car which used to be the roof. All the contents had remained inside the bag only on account of a zipper securing it.

With a sigh he reached in, grabbed the bag, and put it on the ground beside his feet. "Flatnose, get over here!" Basta bellowed.

"What?" He said uneasily, clearly expecting him to give him some impossible task.

"Flip the car over." He ordered in a raspy voice. The command earned him a couple of grumbles from the man.

After a couple of tries the car was finally tipped back over so that it was right side up again. When the woman was no longer hanging upside down Basta reached through the broken window and unbuckled her. Meggie slumped forward and he was forced to reach in and wrap an arm around her waist so that her forehead wouldn't sound the horn. He pulled her out by her upper arms and set her down on the ground before checking for a pulse.

"Good," he grumbled before slinging the young woman over his should like a sack of potatoes. "Now I don't have to explain why we've just killed someone we hadn't gotten to question yet." He was glad he had found a pulse on the girl.

He placed the woman down in the back seat next to Flatnose and was about to step in the car when Cockerell's voice called out. "Where's the book?"

Basta could've kicked himself. How could he have forgotten the book? That was the whole reason they had gone to the woman's house. He had almost forgotten that bag next to the car. He shoved his hands into his pockets and trudged through the snow back to where the small bag rested. He snatched it up, hurried back to the car and slid into the driver's seat again.

He put the SUV in gear and sped off down the road. As he navigated through the darkness he rummaged through the bag. Not the safest habit he noted. The first thing he pulled out was a small book. Basta couldn't help smiling when he recognized the first two letters and the word and started to flip through the contents. Sure enough, there were several pictures of fairies, princes, and other creatures. They had finally gotten it. He gave the book to Cockerell who accepted it readily and continued to delve into the purse.

He found a wallet, a cell phone, and a bit of mascara. Then, very slowly, he pulled out the silver picture frame that the woman had stashed inside right before she left. He scrutinized the picture for a couple of seconds and then stiffened. He had finally realized where he had seen Meggie before. The picture showed a girl around 10 that was undoubtedly the same woman that was in the car with them now. Beside her was a tall man in his thirties with dark hair like mole skin and matching brown eyes. He might not have recognized the woman as a child like he had last seen her but he would recognize her Father anywhere.

He slammed on the brakes and stared out the windshield. "What's the problem now Basta? Aside from the usual?" Cockerell grumbled.

Without a word he handed the picture over to him. He looked over it and froze, a tiny breath hissing through his clenched teeth. Slowly he turned and studied the woman slumped over in the back seat. "Well, well, well," he chuckled. "We finally found her. After 11 years we finally found her. Should we leave a little present for her Father to find?"

Basta nodded and turned back to where Meggie's house was. Meggie Folchart, he thought bitterly. He had never thought he would see her again. Not after she had escaped from the village along with her Father, that book worm, the Arab boy from that book, and Dustfinger. With some effort he pushed the thought of them from his mind and continued to drive into the night.

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><p><strong>Please review. I value your opinion on my work and improve upon it. Thanks for reading &amp; remember to review.<strong>


	5. Chapter 5

**I do not own any characters aside from Yolanda, the others are owned by Cornelia Funke. I would also like to thank those of you who added this to their favorite stories and story alerts. I hope you continue reading and enjoy.**

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><p><strong>Chapter Five<strong>

Meggie

Meggie was jolted awake by the sudden sound of heavy metal pulsing through the car. She wrinkled her nose in disgust. She absolutely hated heavy metal, and the sound of the unintelligible screams and shrieks of the guitar overwhelmed her. "Damn it Cockerell," a raspy voice said which she noticed in horror belonged to Basta. "If you're going to listen to that junk then at least turn it down. If you keep it at that volume we'll all go deaf."

She peeked through her lashes to look at her surroundings. She was sitting in a van with leather seats and darkly tinted windows with the heavy metal pouring out of the stereo system. She saw that Basta was driving the car with an angered expression on his face. It took her a while to realize it was because Cockerell who was in the passenger seat hadn't yet turned the music down. Basta gave him an evil stare and was probably about to do something rash when Cockerell grumbled and grudgingly turned off the music which earned him a grunt of approval from his superior. She was about to sit up sure that she would go unnoticed when she saw Flatnose sitting closely beside her staring intently out the window as though she wasn't even there.

And there, on the other side of Meggie sat Yolanda who looked out cold with her short red hair falling over her closed eyes. Anger built up inside her. Why did they have to involve her with this? They didn't need to take her. She considered smacking the man next to her only to realize that her hands and feet were bound together. She suddenly became terrified. Meggie and her best friend were among the men who hated her more than any living person on the face of the earth and probably wanted to slit her throat. She would have been struggling in fear if she didn't want to be detected. Her fear slowly ebbed away and was replaced by a pulsing anger that made her want to lash out and hit something which was surprising considering that she was usually a nonviolent person.

Slowly, Meggie opened her eyes all the way and looked out the window at the world rushing past. She wouldn't be surprised if they were going at least 90 miles an hour. Nothing surprised Meggie anymore. After all, when the Black Jackets had appeared at the Library it had taken her a while to recognize them. She had expected them to look much older with grey streaks in their hair and wrinkles on their faces. But instead, they had come looking exactly as they had 11 years ago. When they had walked into that Library she had feared that Yolanda would be hurt just by association with her and now, she had been taken as well. Poor Yolanda, she couldn't hurt a fly and then she was caught in the middle of all this. What did she ever do to deserve this? Her thoughts just kept getting angrier and angrier until she heard a strained voice whisper in her ear. "Well, good morning sleeping beauty. It's about time." Her eyes darted over to Flatnose to see that his face was only a foot away from hers staring at her with wild eyes. "I've been waiting. He growled in a voice so quiet that the two men in the front didn't even notice he was talking.

With a grin he reached forward to stroke Meggie's hair and all the anger growing inside her spilled out all at once. She twisted her head around and buried her teeth in his thick arm. He bellowed in pain so loud that it brought Yolanda out of her sleep and cradled it to his chest. Basta served off the road at Flatnose's outburst before turning of the car and whirling around in his seat to look at us. "What the hell was that for?" He snarled looking directly at the giant.

"She bit me! She bit me right on the arm!" He said looking at his arm worriedly.

Meggie was feeling proud of herself. You could still see her teeth marks set into the man's flesh and apparently she had broken the skin because blood was dripping out of one of the indentions. The skin around the whole area was turning a light read and it looked like it was swelling. She let out a faint snarl before growling. "If you try and touch me again, I promise, you, you'll end up with a lot worse than a bite on the arm."

At her voice the two men in the front seat turned to study her. Cockerell's eyes traveled over her body greedily and made her want to flinch away, but she simply kept her eyes focused on him and jutted out her chin defiantly which must have surprised him. "You've got to be nicer to us if you want to remain unharmed all the way back to the village Miss Folchart." He said in a menacingly low voice.

Meggie froze. They knew who she was now and they didn't know Mo was gone forever. They must have seen the picture she had taken. Meggie glared at Cockerell with unconcealed hatred. "No promises." She ground out from behind clenched teeth.

Apparently Basta found her amusing because he burst out laughing. He had a booming voice and it made everyone in the car jump. Meggie stared at him in surprise. It was the first time she had heard him let out a genuine laugh that wasn't meant to terrify a person. It might have actually been an appealing laugh if it hadn't been coming from him. "Well, you seemed to have gotten braver since the last time we saw you." But suddenly all the laughter died from his expression and he gazed at her sternly. "But you really should be nicer to us. After all, we let you live, haven't hurt you, and we were even nice enough to bring you some company. Now be quiet, otherwise we might have to hurt your friend over there." He said pointing over to Yolanda who she had forgotten completely.

Meggie stared at him for a moment longer. Finally, she just answered with a small nod of her head.

Basta let out a little grunt before turning around to face the road and driving off. Cockerell however, stared at her for a couple more seconds before turning back around. Only then did she let out an involuntary shiver. Cockerell scared her more than she remembered. "You better be nice." Cockerell warned her. "Otherwise we might hurt your Father when he comes to get you."

Meggie could only stare at the back of his seat. What would they do if they found out that Mo wasn't coming to get her? He wouldn't be able to come, even if he had known they had taken her. Once they realized this she knew that as soon as they found out about that little detail they would probably kill her. They wouldn't have a use for her so they would just do away with her and Yolanda. The thought made Meggie shudder and made her wish that she could rub her arms with her hands in an effort to warm herself.

Flatnose noticed her shudder and hissed menacingly in her ear. "Are you cold princess? I can fix that." With that he started leaning in towards Meggie which made her freeze in terror.

She let out a little snarl that made the two men in the front turn around and look at them. "For the love of all that's holy Flatnose!" Basta shouted as he turned back to face the road. "Leave the girl alone. Do you want to get bitten again? If she bites you then we have to punish her, and if we punish her then her Father might be more reluctant to do his job. And we can't have that. It's hard enough to get him to talk as it is. So, I would rather you leave her alone. I don't want to explain to Capricorn why she's injured when we get there."

Flatnose grumbled some swear words under his breath and leaned back against the seat. Meggie gave the giant a mockingly sweet smile and turned to face straight ahead. Although they would leave her alone for now that wouldn't last long, when they find out about Mo's predicament they will kill us both in some kind of horrible fashion. Her heart sunk at the thought and she curled up into the fetal position.

I was brought out of my thoughts by a finger prodding my shoulder. Looking up I saw Yolanda looking at me with terrified eyes. "Meggie," she whimpered so no one could hear her. "What's going on? Who's this Capricorn person, where are we, why are we here, what are they going to us, when did you get mixed up with all of this, and how are we going to get away?"

I sighed. "I'll tell you later but for now, just do what I do and don't talk unless you're spoken to. Don't say _anything._" She was suddenly struck that Mo had said the same thing to her when they had taken her and her aunt Elinor.

"Alright," she said before lapsing into silence.

They drove the rest of the way in an awkward silence until they came to a narrow dirt road that seemed all too familiar to Meggie. Cockerell turned around and sneered at Meggie. "Do you remember this place sweet heart? It's been 11 years after all."

Meggie just glared at him, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of seeing her afraid. He narrowed his eyes at her lack of response and leaned in towards her. "When I ask you a question you little wench, I expect an answer. I don't talk just to hear my own voice like Basta does." This comment earned him a glare from the smaller man. "So do you remember or not?"

Meggie continued to glare at him. "Yes, I remember." She said in a quiet voice.

"There, see? Talking to me isn't that bad is it?" He said with a smirk.

Meggie raised an eyebrow at the man. Although she didn't speak her eyebrow spoke volumes. It said: _Do you really want me to answer that? Cause I don't think you'd like the answer. _Cockerell let out a snarl before whirling around to look out the windshield at the passing scenery. Meggie looked out the window as well. She didn't remember the road being quite this beautiful. But then again, she had been on this road only at night. The sunlight made a huge improvement. She could now see lots of trees that were just beginning to change from their usual green to all shades of gold, crimson, and orange. Meggie might have smiled if things had turned out differently.

Meggie wasn't sure how long they had been driving down the road, but after a while she could see the silhouette of Capricorn's village in the distance. Her palms started to sweat uncontrollably and she would've started ringing her hands if she had been in someone else's company. She was thankful that she hadn't started shaking. Otherwise she would never have heard the end of it from these men.

The large SUV rumbled to a stop and Basta turned off the engine before turning around to give her a little smirk. "Welcome back sweat heart. I must say Capricorn will be very pleased to see that you'll be staying with us for a little while longer." Meggie gulped. Basta didn't have any idea how short a stay hers would be.

Flatnose gave Meggie a wicked smile before grabbing her by her arm and yanking her out the car door. The force of his pull brought tears to her eyes and made her cry out in pain. For a second she had been sure that the man that reminded her of the incredible hulk had dislocated her arm. Cockerell snickered as he shut the vehicle's door in front of them. "Aw…did that hurt the little princess." Then without warning he stuck his face just inches from hers and gave her a stern look. "Be nice and we'll consider not hurting you anymore."

Meggie glared at him before bringing her knee up to slam it between the man's legs. He let out a wild cry of pain and fell down on his knees, clutching his groin and letting out a frenzied stream of curses. _Well, _she reasoned._ Since I'm gonna die anyway I might as well go down with a fight._ Pride swelled in her chest. She had changed so much, cause there was no way on this earth that she would have done that 11 years ago. Meggie heard a low chuckle from behind her and a strong hand fastened around the back of her neck. Twisting around, she saw that it was Basta with a smile tugging at his lips. "That was a lot of fun, so I'll let you off the hook, for now."

Looking back at Cockerell Meggie saw that he was now clambering back up to his feet. He gave a little glare at her before slapping her across the face. "Don't. Do. That. Again." He hissed with a glare pointed in her direction.

"Aw common Cockerell, that was fun. I enjoyed it." Basta said as he turned Meggie around and dragged her along into the village. She was closely followed by Yolanda.

A strong feeling of Déjà vu swept over her as Basta pulled her along. It was almost the same as last time, although, there were a few changes. For one it seemed that nature was trying to reclaim the place and the buildings seemed in even greater disrepair then they had the last time she had been there.

Black Jackets patrolled the streets with shot guns slung over their shoulders. As Meggie passed by they would turn to look at her with a mixture of curiosity and appreciation and she wished at that moment that she could turn invisible. She knew where these men were taking her, into Capricorn's church. As they approached the large building Meggie couldn't help but tremble slightly. Basta either didn't notice or just decided to ignore her shaking. Those massive wooden doors loomed forebodingly ahead of her and she began to feel faint. Meggie had promised herself that she would never again be this scared, but that all changed the day that these fire raisers waltzed right back into her life.

With a smirk aimed in Meggie's direction Cockerell pushed open the Church's door that opened with an audible squeak. Without a moments' hesitation Basta shoved her inside the cavernous building and stopped at Capricorn's statue. Meggie knew what Basta expected her to do, but she just couldn't bring herself to do it. "Come on," He growled before elbowing her in the side so hard that it knocked the wind out of her and she was certain that it could leave a bruise. "You know what to do. Bow!"

Meggie leveled a glare at him before giving the smallest dip of her head that she could manage. With a grunt that told her Basta was anything but satisfied he propelled her across the room. It was the same as ever with everything painted a gory shade of red and a couple of Black Jackets reclining in the shadows (Though the wolf whistles and rude comments about her body were new). And there was Capricorn's throne where the pulpit should have been. Surprisingly it was empty. Meggie had never seen it without Capricorn in it. She let out a shiver when she spotted Mortola standing just behind the throne. She looked up when we entered and her eyes narrowed into tiny slits. "Basta what is this? We have enough maids. We don't need another one, no matter how pretty you think she is! And the other one's not much to look at."

"Oh, but they're not maids Mortola." He grumbled, although, there were a few splotches of color on his cheeks. Funny, she never would have thought that Basta was the blushing sort.

"Really? If not maids then what are they?" She said raising her eyebrows.

"They're prisoners of course." He said it in a way that seemed to say that even she should have known that.

"And why are they prisoners? You better have a good reason Basta. Otherwise I might have to feed you to the dogs." Meggie shuddered at that mental picture and saw from the corner of her eyes Yolanda pale and flinch. Not even Basta deserved that fate.

"We'd rather tell Capricorn first. You know how he hates to be one of the last people to know things." He said with a warning in his voice.

"Well he's busy right now." She snapped. "So you'll have to settle for me as he doesn't wish to be disturbed."

"Trust me," he hissed. "Capricorn will _want _to know about this as soon as possible. So go on and get him, we don't have all day."

The Magpie glared at him. "You better hope you're right." She snarled before stalking out of the church.

As soon as the doors were closed behind her Basta muttered something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like 'Old crone'. Meggie shifted from foot to foot when she realized that everyone's eyes were on her. She held her breath hoping that Yolanda didn't do something foolish. It seemed like everyone in the entire village was there.

They all waited in what grew to be an awkward silence. It was so quiet that Meggie was afraid even to breath. It took what felt like hours when she finally heard footsteps approaching the church. A large crash rang out as the door to the Church flew open and a cold gust of air whipped through the entire room. Footsteps pounded towards them and she was sorely tempted to turn around and see the person who she had feared ever since she was a child but dared not. "Basta," He said in his smooth indifferent voice that sent a chill down her spine. "You'd better have a good reason for disturbing me. Otherwise I might actually let Mortola feed you to the dogs, or perhaps even her snakes."

_Mortola had snakes? _Meggie thought with a shudder before making a mental note to stay on the old hag's good side. She saw Capricorn glide past her and settle down in his throne before eyeing the men standing before him. She suppressed a shiver when she saw his gaze rest on her. "Why Basta, who is this? Mortola tells me they're prisoners. Is that true?"

The fact that he didn't seem to have changed at all frightened Meggie. He still had the same milk white skin, colorless eyes, and short fair hair. It still looked as if all the color had been drained out of him. And he hadn't aged at all. And neither had Mortola for that matter. Would they live forever? "Yes sir they are." Basta said with an extremely smug voice.

"Well? Why are they our prisoners? We don't want our cages to be filled with people who have no use to us." His cold calculating eyes roved over the two women until Meggie had to clench her hands together to keep them from shaking.

Meggie stiffened. They would soon find out that she had no use to them. "Why, this is Silvertongue's little girl. She's changed a lot in the past 11 years hasn't she?" Every man in the church froze at the name Capricorn had given her Father and stared at her.

"Yes she has." He said as he rose and walked slowly toward them. "How did you find her? We haven't seen hide or hair of her since she escaped with her Father." He was standing right in front of her now with a malicious glint in his pale eyes.

"We found her quite by accident sir. After we had taken care of Signore Giordano we went around to every place in town that sold or loaned out books. We found her working as a Librarian in the last place we looked in and she was hiding the book as well."

Capricorn's eyes gleam. "So you found another one? Where is it?"

Basta just smiled, reached into a pocket in his jacket and pulled out what was probably the last copy of Inkheart inexistence. He sneered at Meggie while handing the book to Capricorn who leafed through it to make sure that this was the real thing. "Ah," he sighed as he shut the book. "I've been looking everywhere for another. My last one was destroyed. How did you find a copy?" He was studying Meggie intently.

She only shrugged trying not to show how scared she actually was. "One just has to look in the right places."

"Yes, but _where_ did you look?" He said.

"My Father and I went to find the author of Inkheart. It turned out that he had held on to a copy for all these years." She didn't like telling him this, but it couldn't possibly hurt any.

He just nodded and turned back to Basta. "How will silver tongue know to come and get her? I do assume she doesn't still live with her Father."

"We left him a nice little greeting back at her home." He purred. "If he's anywhere in the country he'll know where to go."

Meggie looked at him sharply. "What did you do to my house?" When he ignored Meggie, her temper flared. "Answer me you Bastard!" That got his attention.

He whirled on her before grabbing her by the collar of her shirt and shaking her violently. "Don't ever call me that again you little bitch." He snarled.

"Basta," Capricorn scolded. "We need her in the best possible condition for when her Father arrives. He might be less talkative if his daughter is harmed in anyway. So try to be nice." With a grunt Basta released Meggie's shirt and took a step back. "That's better. Now who is this other one? What's her purpose?"

Basta looked at Yolanda in surprise apparently forgotten by him. "This one," he said grabbing on to her arm. "Is to make sure Silvertongue's daughter behaves herself."

Capricorn nodded and waved them away. "Take them to the cages. They can wait for Silvertongue there."

Nodding to his master he grabbed Meggie's arm along with her friend's and dragged them out of the Church and into the blinding sunlight. His pace was unrelenting as he yanked her along. She looked around at the village and realized that it would have been beautiful if it hadn't been owned by Capricorn and his men. As they approached the cages Meggie couldn't help but shiver at the memory. She had only been shut in a cage for a day, but she still hated the memory of her cold, dark, and damp prison.

Smirking at the two of them he threw them inside one of the cages and shutting the door behind them. Meggie sat up and looked at Yolanda who was huddled in a corner hugging her legs to herself and muttering to herself. "Yolanda," Meggie murmured gently not wanting to scare her.

Her head shot up to look at her best friend. "Meggie, what's going on?" Her voice was hoarse with fear and it made her feel extremely guilty for dragging her into all of this.

She settled down next to the hysteric red head and wrapped an arm around her trembling shoulders. "Do you remember me saying it was best if I not get involved with everyone back at the library?" That got her attention.

She told her everything. From the time when Mo had bought Inkheart to the time when they had finally escaped. She grabbed her head in confusion trying to make sense of it all. After a while she just nodded and looked at the stone walls of their cell. She ran her finger over the names carved into the wall including Francesco, 2005-2006; Marco 1997-1999 and so on. "Are these all the people who've stayed in this cell?" She asked looking at all the names.

"Yeah," Meggie said quietly. "I have one somewhere here let's see if I can find it."

It was harder than she thought it would be with all the new names clustered close together. All of them were long past dead. Finally she found her own carved out into the wall. "Here it is." She said beckoning Yolanda over to her. It spelled out Meggi.

"What about the e?" Yolanda asked tracing the letters.

Meggie shrugged. "I never got to finish it."

She nodded but remained silent for a couple of minutes before looking at her friend. "So Meggie, how are we going to get out of here?"

Meggie shook her head mournfully. "We're not going anywhere."

"But what about when your Father gets here?" She asked hopefully.

"He's not coming. We're going to have to stay here. I really am sorry for dragging you into all of this."

She shrugged trying to look nonchalant. "Eh, it's alright. I was going to have a boring weekend anyway."

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading and please review, it doesn't have to be a signed review so please, I want to know what you think.<strong>


	6. Chapter 6

**I'm so sorry for taking so long on my latest chapter.I have had a slight case of Writer's block and I haven't had much time to work on anything once school started. I've been swamped with homework. I hate Algebra. I've finally been able to finish this now that I've had a day away from school. And I'm happy to say that my Writer's block is gone... for now. So it will not take so long for the next , despite my bumming case of Writers block I'd like to say how happy I am because of everyone's response to this story, it really cheered me up and inspired me to finish this chapter. Each Favorite Story, Story Alert, and review makes me so happy I could burst. Also, I've got a review wondering if I plan on continuing this story because of my delay. And I'd like to say that no matter how long it takes me to post the next chapter, I WILL finish this story. So if anyone's wondering, don't worry. Now, time for the disclaimer. I do not own Inkheart, Cornelia Funke does. And I also do not own Barnes and Nobel or Winnie the Pooh. **

**Chapter 6**

Basta

Basta shifted from foot to foot under the weighted gaze of Capricorn. Never in all the 35 years that Basta has worked for Capricorn had his master been so furious with him. The days had turned into weeks as they waited for Silvertongue to come and claim his daughter. But he had still not shown up at their doorstep. "I thought you said that Silvertongue would come running for his daughter? Perhaps you were wrong and he did not find out she was taken." Capricorn said in a dangerously even voice.

"I assure you Master," Basta said looking at his feet. "If he is anywhere in that country, he will know to come here."

Indeed, Basta and the others had made sure of that. There was absolutely no way that the woman's Father hadn't found out about it. They had even kidnaped the older woman for good measure. So, how could he not be here yet? "Hmm…" Capricorn said considering something. "Get me Silvertongue's daughter. I want to talk to her."

Basta gulped, thinking about what his master would do to her before giving a stiff bow to the pale man and walking out of the Church without another word. It was an overcast and cold day that made goose bumps rise on Basta's arms despite the leather jacket he was wearing. As he approached the cages whispers from the cell the prisoners were in rose to his ears. As silently as he could, he tiptoed over to where they were and pressed his ear against the wooden door separating them. He let out a small growl when he realized the words were too soft for him to hear and opened the door swiftly to surprise the two women inside. He succeeded and was rewarded by startled, wild eyed gazes. "Come on," He said gruffly while motioning them forward. "Capricorn wants to speak with you."

Both women rose and started to walk towards him until he pointed at the older woman. "Not you, he only needs to see Silvertongue's daughter. You can stay here." She was hesitant to obey but she finally sat down when the younger woman gave her a pointed look.

He grabbed the woman's arm in a vice like grip which made her wince and pulled her outside into the sunlight. Meggie blinked spastically trying for her eyes to adjust to the light. After all, she had been locked up without sunlight for weeks. After a few seconds she shook his arm off and began to walk before she stumbled over her own feet and almost fell face first onto the street. Had Basta not been there to grab her arm she would have.

She didn't thank him. She only glared at him before again ridding herself of Basta's hand yet again. "I can walk by myself you know. I don't have to be led around like a child."

_Apparently you can't_. He thought, though he didn't dare voice his thoughts. He might not be scared of this woman who was no more than a child, but he _was_ scared of her Silvertongue Father. "Well then," He said gesturing toward the church where his Master sat waiting. "Start walking."

She didn't look happy about him bossing her around but after a few seconds of glares she went on her way. Basta followed behind her watching her carefully. He expected her to run any moment now. It seemed that's what she had been planning as her eyes strayed to his face every couple of seconds, trying to find a moment when she could slip away. "Don't even think about it. I'd catch you in a heartbeat."

She remained silent, although he could tell by the look in her eyes that she wanted to say a few things to him that a woman back in his world would have been beaten if heard saying. Couldn't exactly blame her either, sometimes he really could be a real ass. When they reached the church doors he thought he saw a bead of sweat running down the woman's face even though the weather was quite crisp this morning. She was clearly nervous about something. _Probably seeing the Master again, _he thought with a mental chuckle. _Capricorn did have that effect on people._

Keeping his eyes on the blonde he pushed the large doors so that they swung open with an elegant arch before crashing into the walls on either side of it. The church was conspicuously empty with only Cockerell, Flatnose, the old magpie, and Capricorn seated on his throne. Usually the Church was swarming with Black Jackets. "Good evening," Capricorn's voice boomed and echoed through the entire structure and it seemed to make the girl beside Basta pale conspicuously. "Do you have anything to tell me Ms. Folchart?" His master's voice seemed almost bored as he examined his fingernails as if not caring, but Basta knew better, Capricorn was absolutely furious and he wouldn't be surprised if he ordered him to gut the girl right then and there.

Meggie

Meggie had never been more afraid in her entire life as she stood before the man who would probably kill her after she told him the secret she had held for so long. Her palms were damp from perspiration and she was sure she was as pale as a ghost. "Well," Capricorn prompted as he seemed to pin her down with his stare. "Go on, I don't have all day and I'm not a patient man. So I would encourage you to start talking."

Meggie swallowed building up the courage to speak. When Capricorn saw her hesitating he whispered something to Cockerell which she just noticed was standing next to him. He simply nodded and left the church as he gave her a little smirk. She cleared her throat as she began, her mind being transported back to that same night that haunted her dreams. "It was a couple of years ago, me and my father had moved to the United States in order to stay hidden. As you know we had found another copy of Inkheart from the author. During the years that followed Mo did everything in this power to try to read back my mother who had disappeared into the book when you came out."

Meggie remembered it only too well. Mo would stay up for days without any food or water and would almost collapse from his weakness. His voice would become hoarse from the many hours that he had spent reading that cursed book. He would often become extremely ill from what she would only call obsession, and since they wanted to avoid attention she would have to read up on the illness and treat him herself instead of taking him to the nearby hospital. "One day he finally gave up hope of him reading my mother out and started searching everywhere for another person who had the ability to bring her back."

_It had been an unusually warm day in November when Mo had come out of his study, his eyes red and swollen from the tears he tried to hide from her and his dark hair was disheveled and falling into his unnaturally pale face. He had sunk down into the sofa next to Meggie and placed his head in his hands. Naturally, she was worried about her father. He had been in the room with just that book and not a scrap of food or water for days. As soon as he came out Meggie had rushed to the kitchen to get a sandwich she had stored in the fridge so that when he'd eventually emerge he would have something to eat. But when she offered it to him he simply pushed it away, a look of pure desperation in his brown eyes. 'I can't do it Meggie,' He said, almost sobbed. 'I can't bring her back.'_

'_Mo,' Meggie had murmured as she sat down and placed an arm around his shoulders. 'You did everything that you could. Maybe you'll manage it when you're not even trying. But in order to do that you need to keep your strength up.'_

_Mo had whipped his head around to look at her, not a trace of hope in his sunken eyes. 'I've tried everything I could for almost twenty years Meggie, if I haven't by now then I never will.'_

_Meggie sighed. 'Mo…' _

'_No Meggie' He'd said almost gruffly. 'I just can't do it.'_

_Meggie would've said something else but what Mo had said next stopped her in her tracks. 'But perhaps someone else can.'_

'_Mo, what are you talking about? You know very well…' She'd started to say._

'_Don't you remember Darius from Capricorn's fortress? I know you do Meggie. There are others out there who are the same as me. They might be able to bring her back. It's the only chance of getting your mother back. Don't you want that Meggie? Don't you want your mother back?'_

_What could she say? 'Yeah, not really Mo, I don't really remember her, so I don't really miss her.' But she couldn't say that. There was no telling what her Father would have done. Plus, it would've made her extremely guilty. So she just went with what he wanted to hear. 'Of course I do Mo, but, what are the chances that we can find someone else like you? It's not like we could find another… another Silvertongue on any street corner.' _

She had almost forgotten that she stood before Capricorn. She was so lost in her thoughts that she jerked back to reality when Capricorn spoke. "But what does this have to do with where your Father is Ms. Folchart?"

Meggie couldn't help but scowl at the pale man in front of her. "I'm getting to that." She said irritably. "He searched everywhere for years, and finally found another reader to bring my mother back at a Barnes and Noble children's reading of Winnie the Pooh."

_Meggie had been home preparing dinner for when Mo would come home from his search when the sound of the front door opening sounded as well as the sound of heavy footsteps. 'Mo, there you are, I was beginning to worry about you. I'd thought you'd slid off the road after hitting a patch of ice.'_

_There was a small chuckle that came from Mo which made Meggie stop her work. When was the last time Mo had laughed? Slowly Meggie looked up to see that Mo wasn't the only person in the room. 'Look Meggie! I finally found someone!' Mo's eyes were twinkling like a kid's on Christmas morning as he opened his presents._

_Hesitantly she turned to look at the man and almost shivered. She had expected another person like Darius, not the man standing in front of her. He was extremely tall, almost as tall as Mo with perfectly combed black hair and eyes so dark and cold it made her try and hide a flinch from her Father. Everything about him screamed: Danger, don't come near me if you value your life. 'Mo, may I speak with you for a second, alone?' Meggie made sure to stress the last word of her sentence._

_Mo nodded cheerfully before moving towards his study. Once they had shut the door behind them Meggie whirled on him. 'Mo, what were you thinking? He's a complete stranger! We don't know anything about him. He could be an ax murderer for all we know. Where did you find him anyway?'_

_Her father seemed unaffected by her sudden tirade. 'I found him at a local Barns and Nobel. Isn't it great Meggie? Now we can get your mother back and pretend that nothing ever happened?'_

_Meggie looked at her Father in shock. 'Mo nothing will ever be the same. We'll always be on the run.'_

'_I know, but I can dream can't I?' He said in an almost dreamy voice. 'Meggie please, just give him a chance will you?'_

'_Fine, but the first sign I get that we can't trust him he's out of here.' She hated having to agree to this but knew this was the only thing Mo would accept for the moment. 'So, since I need to give this guy a chance, what's his name?'_

_Mo looked a bit sheepish at her question. 'Well I don't really know what it is.'_

_Meggie gave him a stern look. 'You didn't even bother to learn his name? Did you just drag him off of the street?'_

'_No,' Mo said defensively which indicated that he had._

'_Well let's go talk to him before he leaves, shall we?' She said with a sigh._

_When they came back out they saw that the man was standing in the kitchen looking at their family pictures on the fridge. Mo cleared his throat causing the smaller man to whirl around to look at them with a guilty expression. 'I'm sorry. My curiosity got the better of me.' He said in that smooth voice that could only belong to a silvertongue. However it was also cold and uninviting._

'_It's quite alright. Which one were you looking at?' Mo asked solemnly._

'_The one with you, the woman, and I presume your daughter.' He said turning around to look at the picture again._

'_The woman is my wife and is incidentally the reason why I've brought you here.' He beckoned for the man to follow him before adding. 'I'll explain in here. Meggie will serve us our dinner while we talk.'_

_Meggie watched Mo explain as she loaded plates with chicken, green beans, and potatoes. She was suddenly glad that she had cooked more food than usual seeing as their new guest had come without any warning. She entered the dining room as Mo was wrapping up his story. The younger man only nodded with a serious look on his face. She gently placed the plate in front of the two men on the table. The younger man ignored her and didn't so much as give her a nod of thanks. Meggie narrowed her eyes but refrained from saying anything. Mo deserved her mother back and she wouldn't do anything that might ruin that._

_They all dug into their food as if they were starving and when they'd finished they all moved into the living room to come up with an action plan. 'So, Justin' Mo said hopefully. (Mo had learned during their conversation his name was Justin Harper) 'Would you help us? It would mean the world to me and Meggie.'_

'_Of course Mr. Folchart, I'll do everything I can to help.' He said in his smooth voice._

'_Thank you Justin, when would you like to get started?' Mo asked hesitantly as if he was afraid the man in front of him would disappear into thin air._

'_How about now Mr. Folchart?' He said forcing a smile onto his face. It was quite clear to Meggie that he didn't smile often._

_Mo's face split into a smile that stretched from ear to ear. 'That would be wonderful. Meggie, could you leave the room please?'_

'_What do you mean leave? I'm staying right here.' Meggie cried jumping up from where she had been seated beside her father. 'I'm not just going to leave you here.'_

'_Meggie,' Mo said sternly with little look that spoke volumes. 'I won't lose you like I lost your mother Meggie. Now I want you to go to the whole other side of the house and stay there until I come and get you. Is that understood?' Meggie just stood there for a second before nodding and leaving the room._

_As soon as she reached the door to her room she paused, contemplating, and then turned around, heading back to the living area. She was not going to be treated like a little girl, and she certainly wasn't going to be sheltered like she had been for a great deal of her life. She was going to take the same risks as Mo was being in that room. As she neared the living area she made sure that her footsteps were quiet and sure so that she wouldn't be found out. Barely daring to breath she looked inside. It seemed that Justin had already started reading aloud. He did have a pretty good voice, she had to admit, but her father's was much nicer. Justin spoke of the Castle of Ombra and the laughing prince who would always hold wonderful feasts where he would fill his rotund belly until it was ready to explode. He read of the strolling players that would perform for him and his son Cosimo. Meggie closed her eyes as drunken laughter filled her ears as well as wonderful music and the sound of golden cups clinking together. It was as if she was really there. She opened her eyes expecting to be in a great hall with noble men and women with glamorous gowns. But she still saw her house but there were a couple of things different from when she'd left. For one, there was a woman crumpled on the floor at Justin's feet._

_For a moment, Meggie's heart soared, until she looked closer and realized that the woman on the floor was not her mother. This woman was considerably younger, around Meggie's age, and you could never mistake her hair color for her mother's hair shade of blond. She sighed. Another person stole from their world, great, what more could go wrong? Just as Meggie thought that, she realized what the other thing different was. Mo was gone. It didn't take long for her to realize what had happened. 'Stop, Justin stop right now.' She shouted trying to bring him back to reality._

_He looked up to see Meggie standing there and narrowed his eyes. 'I thought your Father told you to stay in your room?' He said in what could almost be called a sneer._

'_That doesn't matter now' she shouted at him, tears in her eyes. 'He's gone. You took him away. How could you? He trusted you Justin!' The woman on the floor stirred by her loud voice but Meggie didn't care at the moment._

_The man before her just stood there, shock on his face as he looked around for the man who had sought his help just earlier today. 'I didn't mean any harm Ms. Folchart.' He said in a voice that infuriated her to no end._

'_Oh you're just as smooth as ever! Now get out before I have to drag you out! Right now, or so help me…' She let her threat trail off when she saw the look at the man's face._

'_Of course Ms. Folchart, you won't hear from me again.' He said his head ducked as he strode over to the door._

'_You'd better hope I don't Mr. Harper, otherwise I don't know what I'd do.' She said in a quietly menacing voice. The tears that had been welling in her eyes finally started to spill out and run down her pale cheeks. 'Just get out.'_

_The man only nodded as he shut to door behind him. With a suppressed sob she turned back to look at the woman who had come in her Father's place. She was just starting to wake up. Meggie could only look at her. After a couple more seconds the woman came around and looked up at Meggie with a confused look on her face. Meggie froze. That face… no, it couldn't be… there was just no way it was her. 'Where am I?' She said in a strained voice. 'And why are you crying?'_

Meggie quickly decided not to mention anything about the woman who had showed up in her house. So she decided to just tell Capricorn the main idea of what had happened. "The other reader that my Father found ended up reading him into Inkheart. He's been gone for years. He won't be coming any time soon."

Capricorn was surprisingly frowning which made Meggie worry greatly for her safety. He almost never showed emotion. "I see, well in that case…" But he was broken off by the sound of the church doors opening. "Ah Cockerell, I see you've brought me what I've asked for."

Surprised, Meggie turned around and froze. Standing in the doorway was Cockerell gripping tightly to Yolanda, her red hair messy and her eyes filled with terror.

**Thanks for reading! It means so much! Can you guess who the woman is? I really didn't plan on her being in this story but She will play a role in this story. Anyway. I should be updating soon seeing as you need to find out what is going to happen to Yolanda. I hope you continue reading and please, please, please, please review. And may I wish everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving filled with Turkey and Cranberry Sauce. Yum! Now I'm counting down till Christmas!**


	7. Chapter 7

Thank you so much for reviewing! I'm sorry that I haven't posted in a while, makes me feel guilty. Any way I would like to thank everyone for reviews, story alerts and favorite stories. I love you guys so much right now!

Now, I suppose it's time for the disclaimer.

I do not own Inkheart. Cornelia Funke does. If I did, I would've made sure that they got a better looking actor to play Basta!

Please R&R: It makes me very happy.

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><p><strong>Chapter 7<strong>

Meggie

Meggie stared at the two figures standing in the doorway, dread filling her completely. Cockerell smirked at her before dragging Yolanda in by her red hair that looked dull and matted from the days of imprisoned in that cell that Meggie hadn't seen in nearly twelve years. Yolanda looked at her with wide eyes that pleaded to know why they wanted her. It hurt Meggie to see the woman who had been her best friend for several years who had always been so strong down on her knees.

She wished at that moment that she had never dragged her friend into this whole mess. She could have ignored her or made Yolanda hate her like nothing else, but she didn't. Instead, she had jumped at the chance of having just one friend in the midst of her crazy life, one who gave her some semblance of a normal existence. She had been selfish and now, she was going to cost someone their life because of her stupidity. She should have known that they would find her eventually and she hated herself for her helplessness as Capricorn stared down impassively at the terrified woman who had been brought to tears by the pain of Cockerell yanking her in by her hair.

Cockerell smirked in her direction but this time it was at Basta who was still restraining her. "Benito just came back from a raid. He wants you to go help him unload the truck."

Basta game an annoyed huff. "What does he have to unload? I don't remember him taking anything on the raid."

"Just go and help him Basta." Capricorn said impatiently. "Flatnose can watch her while you're gone." At that Flatnose let out a big grin before stomping his way over to her

Grumbling, Basta stormed out, trying to stay in control of his feelings. Meggie almost groaned. Anyone would be better than being restrained by Flatnose. She still remembered how he had acted in the van on the way here. "Meggie," The blonde jumped up in surprise at her friend's voice cracking. She had almost forgotten that Yolanda had been standing there in front of Capricorn's throne. "What's going on?" If Flatnose hadn't thumped his hand down on her shoulder to remind her who was in charge she would have rushed over to the red head who looked like she might faint at any moment. Meggie had let this happen to her friend and just thinking about it brought tears to her eyes. But maybe Capricorn was in a gracious mood today, though he probably wasn't, considering he had just found out that the man who he had been obsessed with over the past twenty years was gone to never return.

"Well, Mrs. Folchart, considering you lied to me about your Father coming I believe a punishment is in order. Wouldn't you agree?" His face remained impassive and unresponsive, but his eyes held a malicious glint in them that would send even the most hardened and fearless of people running for the hills, tails tucked firmly in between their legs. It made Meggie want to retch.

"Perhaps starting with your friend here, she no longer holds any value to us after all." Capricorn's gaze shifted from Yolanda to Meggie and back again. "We only needed her to keep you in line until your Father came. And since he is no longer expected, her use has run out." His gaze bore into her with such intensity Meggie flinched. "And you know what we do to people who have no use to us."

Yolanda looked horrified. After all, you didn't really have to think very hard in order to piece together the puzzle. "No please, I'll do anything else, anything. I've seen maids running around, I could be a maid. I could clean or cook around here with the other woman." Meggie looked at her friend who looked like she might burst into tears. She was grasping on straws and she knew it. But then it couldn't hurt. "I might be able to help with the garden or the…" Yolanda was cut off by Capricorn chuckling.

"Do you really think you can help now? No, you're far too old, and wouldn't be able to go a week in this place with your blubbering attitude. The maids here need to be strong but still submissive. Yes, you are submissive, but not very strong." He sighed. "And not only that, but you are also wasting much of my valuable time which I could be spending with a much less annoying female. Cockerell," He said nodding at his henchman. "You may do the honors since Basta is currently preoccupied."

Cockerell smiled at the woman beside her and reached into his belt to pull out a small knife. It was small and rusty in some areas showing that he didn't take care of his knifes like Basta did. Yolanda, in a moment of panic, made a dash towards the door but was quickly over came by Cockerell who wrapped his arm around the elder woman. Being restrained by Flatnose, Meggie could only watch the unfolding events in horror. Seemingly without a second thought Cockerell pulled Yolanda back to him and onto the rusty blade which was pointed at the small of her friend's back. Her mouth opened in a silent scream as the dagger pierced the flesh on her back. No sound came out until Cockerell moved the knife around inside her, making sure to rip apart her insides and to ensure she wouldn't survive before violently pulling the blade, now covered in her innocent blood. When he released her, the redhead fell onto the tiled floor with an audible thud.

No matter how long she lived, she would always remember that moment, with the person who had been her best friend for years lying on the floor as a puddle of blood expanded around her abdomen. She would always remember the guilt that squeezed at her heart and the need to curl up into a ball.

In the middle of her self-loathing the doors to the church swung open to reveal a grim looking Basta. "Ah Basta you're back." Capricorn said with a glance at his second in charge. "Though you came a moment too late, you missed the entire show." He said gesturing to the corpse on the floor.

"Brandon and Marko are dead. Apparently, the farmer they were visiting shot them when they tried to set fire to the house." He said softly. His tone made Meggie look up at him in surprise. Who would have thought that Basta actually had feelings, much less a sort of conscience?

Capricorn just shrugged. Evidently death was no big deal with him. "Brandon was your student, wasn't he?"

"Marko too," He said, still quiet.

His master gave him a stern look. "I would have thought that you trained your students better. If your teaching skills don't improve soon, you might turn out like the redhead on the floor over there." He growled with a gesture at Yolanda.

"Yes sir, I understand." Basta grumbled as he looked down at his feet.

"Good, now take Ms. Folchart back to her cage. I think she's learned her lesson." He then turned to Meggie with a smile. "I do hope we can do this again sometime. Though, in the meantime, have a pleasant time in your cell. Perhaps you can consider what you've done. After all, we don't want this happening again. Do we?" He gave her a little smile which would've looked innocent if it weren't for the fact that it was his face on which it was located on. She wanted to slap it off.

Basta gripped her forearm tightly in his steel like grip and pulled her to the doors of the church, which were still open with a soft "Let's go."

She followed him without a word, which she wouldn't have done if it weren't for the previous events in the church. When they reached the cell, Basta opened the door, let go of her arm, and motioned for her to get in. Meggie had a feeling that it would be a bad idea to even think of running, considering the mood Basta was in at the moment. So, without another word, she entered the dank cell before hearing the sound of the door being slammed shut as well as bolts and locks being put back into place, only when she could no longer hear the sound of Basta outside the door she finally let loose the river of tears that had wanted to be released ever since they had brought Yolanda into that church. She was absolutely alone now, with no one to help her. She had thought about escaping with Yolanda, but now, she felt as if all the hope had been drained out of her.

Basta

Basta heard the sobs of the girl coming from inside the cell after about a minute of standing outside the door. He had been waiting for the crying to start after seeing the look in her eyes that he had seen time and time again. It was the look of a person who wanted, no needed, to cry, but her pride wouldn't allow it. Sometimes Basta thought the girl was too proud and stubborn for her own good. But the fact that she had held her tears until she was all along had been a smart move. The first sign of weakness here would be an almost instant death sentence. He made sure to be quiet as he walked away, making sure not to cause her pride anymore harm. She had hurt enough today.

Everyone assumed he didn't have a soul or even a heart, but there was a stirring in his chest whenever he hurt someone or saw someone killed. He suspected it was his conscience telling him to be guilty for what he had done, even though Capricorn had tried his hardest to kill his since of right and wrong out of him ever since he was a boy. Basta knew now that he had a heart, because it heart had ached that afternoon when he had seen the corpses of his former students lying there. The girl wasn't the only person who had lost someone today. He had loved those two like they were his younger brothers he never had.

He often wondered what kind of a man he would've grown up to become if he hadn't joined Capricorn all those years ago. If he still felt guilty and hurt after all these years of service to Capricorn, what would he have become if he had chosen differently. He would probably be happy, married, with kids, and without everyone hating his guts.

Mystery

She frowned as she stared at what had once been the home of her friend. She had been the one who had read her out of Inkheart several years ago. Sure, she had been upset about it before, but she had come to love this world. And now, Meggie was gone.

She hadn't been planning of coming here anytime soon, as she was doing very well for herself. But when she had heard about what had happened on the news, she just had to come and see for herself. Sure enough, there, where the house used to stand was a huge pile of ashes. She didn't know how they did it, but somehow they had managed to keep the fire from spreading to the other houses so the ashes were surrounded by bright, cheerful looking houses. And, there was their calling card, right in the driveway, scrawled out like a child would scribble with chalk, were the words, "Silvertongue, meet us if you want her to live. You know who we are." It was written with the ashes from the house and the blood of, hopefully, a rooster which lay just below the words with a slit throat. And beside that was a picture of Meggie and who must have been her father with their arms slung around each other inside a silver picture frame.

Anger swelled inside of her as she thought of the men who had taken her away. They would pay for this. Meggie deserved so much better than this. She was one of the kindest people she had ever met and she would make sure that everything would turn out all right. Meggie had told her that their hideout had been in southern Italy, so that was where she was going to find her. Taking one more look at the pile of ashes, she walked down the street to find her friend.

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><p>Thanks for Reading! Please R&amp;R! I don't care if you just want to chat about the weather, <strong>REVIEW!<strong>


	8. Chapter 8

**It feels great to be writing again. I've missed it so much. Sorry I haven't updated , I've been a little busier than I thought I would be. I hope you enjoy this , Review after you read! I take pride in my work and want to know if I'm doing anything wrong. Constructive criticism helps a whole lot. And another thing, I DO NOT own anything from Inkheart, though I wish I did. Then I wouldn't have to write these disclaimers anymore, which I loathe with all my being.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 8<strong>

Basta

Basta walked back into the church where Capricorn sat on his throne, studying the corpse laying on the floor. Apparently he hadn't bothered anyone to clean her up from the floor. "Sir, will she not be taken away?" When Capricorn raised an eyebrow in surprise Basta made sure to correct his mistake. "It's just that her blood might stain the floor."

"Hmm…" He murmured staring down at the woman on the ground. "I suppose you're right." Basta nodded and went to pick her up. Before he could touch her however, Capricorn spoke again. "What are you doing?"

"I'm cleaning her up. She'll stain the floor." He said confused.

Capricorn studied his nails as he answered him. "Exactly, I think it might be a good look for the place. It'll match the walls. Let's keep her there for a little while longer. But we'll have to get her out of here before she starts to stink."

Basta nodded before standing up and walking over to his master's side. This was the routine for the day. He would wait, standing beside his master, for Capricorn to give him some order to carry out. After several minutes of saying nothing, Capricorn cleared his throat and looked him. "So, did you know that the mission that Benito just came back from was…unsuccessful? The old man managed to get away without so much as one a scratch? I must say, I'm very disappointed with you Basta. Surely you could have done better in training your students? Both Brandon and Marko, killed in one mission, a shame that you couldn't have done any better."

Basta clenched his hands into fists and tried to keep his temper form boiling over. He had told Capricorn that they weren't ready for something this serious. He knew something like this would happen to them. Although they could have been Black Jacket material, they hadn't been ready for this. He felt that it was his entire fault that they had died. He felt this way every time someone close to him died. He should have known that he shouldn't become attached to anyone after everything he had lost, but still, he hadn't learned a thing.

"Anyway," he continued. "I want you to take Simon and Matthew to finish what has been started. I expect you back by the day after tomorrow to make your full report." Basta hesitated which caused Capricorn to raise an eyebrow at his second in command. "What are you waiting for Basta? I thought you were leaving."

"Simon and Matthew are dead. They have been for weeks. Perhaps we could choose someone else." He said slowly, making sure not to offend his superior's pride.

"Alright, then take Jenson and Dillon."

"Dillon's dead and Jenson abandoned us a month ago on a raid."

"Fine then," He said, softly, in a voice that said that if you provoked him much more, he would snap. Basta was instantly ten times more wary of his master. "Let Cockerell and Flatnose pick one of their students. It seems I must speak with you separately about an issue. You'll be staying behind with me. Come back in an hour, I'm a little busy at the moment and can't talk, though I should be done by then. Don't be late." Basta nodded and left without another word. He had already pushed his master enough today. He would give him a break. Now he just had to sit and wait for an hour to pass.

Basta sat down in his own house, feeling antsy and jittery. He wanted to be doing something, anything really. Sometimes the need to be busy was so bad that he would clean his house like a maniac, making his house one of the, if not the cleanest house in the entire village. Finally, when the hour was drawing to a close, Basta left to speak with his master. However, when he arrived at the church, the only person in the room was Mortola washing the tile floor. She looked up and glared at him appraisingly. "For once you're on time. Capricorn is waiting for you in his personal quarters. I suggest you hurry on your way. He's in a rather bad mood at the moment."

Basta gritted his teeth in an effort not to retort at the woman and did his best not to act like a child and stomp out of the room. "Of course," He responded quickly before heading over to Capricorn's house. That old Magpie treated him like an ignorant child sometimes and he couldn't stand it.

As he entered the house, an awkward silence fell and about ten pairs of eyes turned to look at him. Every single pair belonged to a maid. Capricorn had made it a rule that all maids would live in his house, claiming that it was because he didn't want them to be disturbed by any of his men after hours. Though, personally, he thought it was just so his master could be surrounded by women. A few more seconds passed by before Capricorn's favorite maid, Resa, stood and motioned for him to follow her. A few years ago, Basta would have been more than happy to be alone with her, but now, after years of trying to capture her attention, he had realized that it would probably never come. Much like Roxanne hadn't given him the time of day. Besides, physically, she was older than him by fifteen or twenty years. To him, it would be just a little weird. For some reason, she wasn't like the rest of us.

When Resa came to a stop, it was in front of the twin doors of Capricorn's study. With a nod, she motioned him to enter before turning to leave. "Thank you Resa," He said softly. His words made her pause for a moment before she walked off down the hall the way they had come, without a backwards glance.

He stared after her for a moment before entering his master's quarters. Capricorn was sitting in a large, plush chair reading a small leather book with gold letter print on the cover. He looked up at him and studied him with his milk white eyes. "Ah Basta, thank you for being on time, please sit down."

Without a word Basta sat down in a hard wooden chair that hurt bones. He looked enviously at the comfy looking chair once his master turned his attention back to his book. Looking around at the study, Basta noted that it had not changed much since he had last been here. It was still painted in a blood red with a desk against the far wall and a table next to the chair he sat in. He sat silently as Capricorn finished his reading, knowing better than to interrupt him. One only had to be punished once. After what seemed like forever Capricorn closed his book, set it down on the table next to him and gave him an unreadable look.

"As you know, our forces are growing thin. Our men are dropping like flies, whether it because of death or desertion. So," He said softly as he picked his book back up, indicating that he was about to be dismissed. "I want you to go to the nearby villages tomorrow and gather some young boys up. I do hope that you can train them better than Marko and Brandon." Basta clenched his teeth in an effort not to talk. He had told Capricorn that they hadn't been ready to go on their own mission. But he hadn't listened. Unaware of his henchman's anger, Capricorn continued. "There's always a boy in every village who likes to play with matches."

Basta nodded and made to leave. He had just opened to door to the study when Capricorn stopped him by clearing his throat. He turned around and found his master again reading his book. Without looking up from the text, he spoke. "Please retrieve Ms. Folchart from the cages. It seems I must speak with her on a change of living arrangements. Bring her here."

Basta almost growled. He didn't want to see the blond woman again after the way he had left her. He hoped desperately she wasn't still crying in her cell. "Of course," He said before heading down the hallways.

Unknown

She looked out the windows of the plane just as the announcer's voice came over the loud speaker that they would begin their decent onto the terminal. She was silently glad that this ride of terror was over. In her world, the only things that could fly were birds, fire elves, and fairies. It just felt so unnatural to be inside this huge thing. But she would do anything for her blond friend. Who knew what she was going through at the moment, at the hands of Capricorn and Basta? If she was still alive that was. At the moment, she just had to worry about the plane crashing on the tarmac.

Once it was all over, she pushed past all the other people while they reached up to grab their luggage, luckily, she didn't have any. The price for bags was just too high, and anything that she needed, she could just steal. At the moment, she had her eyes on a nice cherry red sports car parked just a little ways away. Her lips twisted up into a smirk. She hoped that the car was as fast as it looked, after all, time was of the essence in this rescue mission.

Looking around, to make sure that no one was watching, she worked her magic on the car. Within a minute, the car door was open and she was inside. Sometimes, living by yourself in a strange world had its advantages, you picked up stuff. The part about hotwiring a car had been a part of Meggie's teachings. _'You can only do this in case of an emergency, other wise, don't even think about it.' _

She smiled at the words she had told her right after teaching her how to commit grand theft auto. She was sure that the woman would consider this an emergency. Although, she could still appreciate the car. It was quite honestly the best car she had ever stolen. Whoever was losing a car today, was rich enough to buy a new one for tomorrow.

She shook her thoughts away and peeled out of the airport, she had to get her thoughts back onto her mission. She had only a limited amount of time to find Meggie. And her musing about the car owner's money wasn't going to help.

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><p><strong>I promise that things won't take so long next time, I've already started on the next chapter. Thanks for being patient with me! Just a little reminder if you are like me and you forget things ten seconds after you read or hear them: REVIEW PLEASE! I'M DESPERATE!<strong>


	9. Chapter 9

**I'm so sorry everyone! I had to focus on studying for my finals for a while so I didn't continue to write this until this summer and I wasn't able to finish this chapter before my family took our annual vacation to Colorodo to go camping. Turns out that the places didn't have Wifi to post an update. I just got home last night and did some final touches today before posting. I hope you enjoy!**

**Reviews & everything else!: Thank you so much for all the reviews and follows. Alot of them were really inspiring and if anything, it make me want to finish these chapters faster**

**Disclaimer(Which I almost forgot): I do not own Inkheart or any of its characters. The only thing that belongs to me is the plot and mentions of Yolanda and maybe a few more future OCs.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 9<strong>

**Meggie**

Meggie stared at the stone wall of the cell, trying to forget the events of that evening, but no matter what she did to forget, it still came back in full force. Yolanda begging to become a maid instead of being killed, Cockerell's knife driving into her stomach, and all that blood pooling on the floor. Yolanda's death was all her fault she thought with a groan before she clutched her head and considered banging it against the cold floor which was littered with straw.

But she was brought out of her thoughts when the dead bolt was slid out of place on the door. She whipped around to look at the door, glad that she had stopped crying a while ago and her eyes were no longer red and swollen. Standing in the doorway, was Basta, his face expressionless and unreadable. She glared at him, blaming him. "What do you want?" Meggie spat at him.

Basta raised his eyebrow sardonically. "Capricorn wishes to see you in his study. He said something about a change in living arrangements."

Meggie's temper flared. "Hasn't he done enough for today? Why couldn't he wait just one more day?"

Basta shrugged, as though it didn't concern him. "I don't know what goes on in his head. I just carry out his orders."

"Yeah, like you killed Yolanda by bringing her here." Meggie muttered.

At her words, Basta's face was no longer the unreadable mask that it had been just a few moments before. Now, his dark eyes were blazing and his face tight in anger, his hands clenched in fists. "Funny, because I don't remember killing her, hell, I don't even remember being in the same room. In fact, I do believe I was outside, taking care of the dead bodies of my students. Then again, perhaps I was mistaken."

'_Yeah, cause you wouldn't have followed his orders if you were in the room.' _But Meggie didn't say that. The truth was, she couldn't blame him for something that he hadn't done, no matter if he was a black jacket or not, and that look on his face when he had come back inside the church… She knew that he had been in quite a state when he had entered the church and the topic brought up his dead students, which clearly upset him. She made a mental note not to mention the topic around him again, in case he snapped. "No, you weren't." She said softly, but he still heard her and gave her a small nod, recognizing it for the apology that it really was.

"I'll take responsibility for my actions," He said still looking at her with such an intense gaze that Meggie felt that he was looking down into her very soul. "But I won't for something that I didn't do." She nodded and knew that the subject was officially closed. "Now, we should probably get going. Capricorn will not wait forever."

Meggie stayed quiet, but got up, her joints sore from sitting on the floor, and brushed some straw from her jeans that she had worn since the day she had arrived. Basta gave her a nod of approval at her cooperation and gestured for her to walk in front of him, probably so that he would have his eyes on her the entire time to ensure that she wouldn't be able run away into the hills. Not that she was stupid enough to try, at least, not yet. She would need a plan first.

**Basta**

As she walked past him, Basta resisted the urge to grab her arm and drag her to the church. It would honestly be pointless. She would only shake his hand off after a couple of seconds. She remained quiet as they walked, which was probably the best thing that she could do at the moment after that comment on him killing her red headed friend. That had angered him. She had blamed him despite the fact that he hadn't even been there, instead, he had been outside dealing with his own grief. He had really come to care for the boys and then she had acted as if her sadness was the only thing that mattered. But then again, she didn't know of his problems, she probably didn't even realize that her comment had stung him. But she had apologized in that clipped and unwilling way of hers that showed just how much she begrudged having to concede to his point.

She was an interesting individual and he took the time that her back was turned to study her. Her long, pale blonde hair was slightly wild and tangled and fell over her black clothes that she had been wearing when they had taken her. She was able to pull off the black clothes, and he could easily see her in a black jacket if her personality had been different, and she even pulled off the messed up hair, which made her look rogue and dangerous, something that he hadn't been able to imagine that tiny eleven year old girl looking like. Little Silvertongue's daughter had definitely grown up. Though one thing would never change, and that was the fact that she would always hate his guts, much like Resa.

He would have continued contemplating if he hadn't noticed that the blond was heading towards the church. He quickly placed his hand on her shoulder to stop her progress. She turned to glare at him before looking at his hand as if she wanted to tear it from the rest of his person. He quickly removed it, after all, he was many things, but he wasn't stupid. "You're going the wrong way." She looked at him, clearly puzzled. He jerked his head to his left towards Capricorn's house. "We're going to Capricorn's study, that's in his house, not in the church."

"Oh," She murmured softly. "Lead the way."

Basta studied her, trying to see if she would try to make a run for it. Apparently, she picked up on her thoughts because she gave a little snort of exasperation. "I won't run away. I'm not that stupid. This time, there's no one to help me escape if I got in trouble."

He looked at her for a couple more seconds before nodding. "Don't make me regret this, because I won't be a happy camper, I'll tell you that right now."

"Don't need to tell me that." She muttered under her breath were she probably thought that he couldn't hear her, but he did, and it warranted a slight twitch of his lips. Not enough that it would be considered a smile, but enough to show that he was amused, to those that were paying attention that is, so she missed it before I turned my back and walked away, expecting and hoping that she would follow. Basta couldn't help smiling when he heard the soft footfalls behind him.

**Meggie**

Meggie followed behind him at a slow pace, studying him. When Basta had first put his hand on her shoulder, she considered ripping it off, but she hadn't had to decide considering he had removed it directly afterwards. He seemed to know that it had ticked her off. In fact, he hadn't even tried to grab her arm. The Bastard was learning, and if he kept this up, she might even consider not glaring at him once in a while, though that would take some trying.

Despite her present company, Meggie couldn't help but feel anxious about what lay for her inside. She had never been inside of Capricorn's house before, and wondered what it would be like. Would there be skeletons hanging from the wall, or perhaps the smell of rotting corpses? But, when she entered the house, Meggie found a completely different scene. It could almost be mistaken for a normal house. Perhaps, this house could have belonged to a wealthy man, with his wife and children playing outside in the sunshine, laughing with utter contentment. But it was not to be. These pale walls, which might have seemed soothing in a different situation, only reminded her more of the milky white eyes of the man who held her captive. As Basta led her up and down the winding hallways, butterflies fluttered in the pit of her stomach. Would this be the last time she walked down these hallways? Had Capricorn finally decided to be rid of her? She could only hope it would be a merciful death, because, under no circumstance, did she wish to be fed to Capricorn's dogs or even, God forbid the old Magpie's snakes.

In the middle of her contemplation of her death Basta stopped in front of a pair of large polished, wooden doors. As he reached out to grab the doorknob, Basta leveled a glare at her. "Do not speak unless spoken to and be nice. Your life hangs on the line at the moment, so don't mess this up."

Meggie only gave him a glare of her own before the black jacket opened the doors, which opened without a sound. Meggie stepped inside and looked around. The office could have seemed ordinary, had the walls not been the same hue of blood. Capricorn sat behind his desk, speaking in hushed tones to Cockerell's bowed head. When he heard the door open, the red haired man raised his head to look at her. "Well, hello blondie, fancy meeting you here. You come here often?"

It took all of Meggie's willpower to keep a straight face. Snapping in front of the man who held her life in her hand was not exactly the best idea, even if Cockerell was a complete ass hole. Not to mention the fact that Capricorn's milky white stare unnerved her to no end. "Ah Basta, there you are." The man said in his frustratingly calm voice. "I was beginning to wonder if you had gotten lost." His gaze never left Meggie. "Ms. Folchart, have a seat. We have much to discuss. Cockerell, leave us. We'll continue this at another time." Meggie refused to meet the red head as she sat in a large plush chair, no doubt smirking at her, believing her to be pathetic, because that was what she was, pathetic.

**Basta**

When Cockerell left, Basta's eyes traveled to the little blond woman sitting in the chair. She looked smaller than usual, defeated. She sure didn't look like the same girl who had come into the camp just a few weeks ago. The same one who had made him laugh when she kneed Cockerell in the balls. Though he knew that beneath all that, she was still as she always was, strong.

Capricorn looked at her critically, as if looking over a prize pig. The silence was deafening while his master studied her. After a few moments the pale man broke the silence. "Ms Folchart, how are you enjoying your stay? I hope that it's not too cold in your cell. I've heard that it can get below freezing in there."

"It's fine." She growled shortly as she crossed her arms across her chest.

"Good, we don't want you to get sick before we move you to your new room." He said as he reopened the book her had been reading earlier.

She cocked an eyebrow at him in surprise. "Really? You're moving me somewhere else? Is there a dungeon I haven't heard of yet?" She asked sardonically.

Capricorn looked up at her briefly. "Actually, there is a dungeon." Meggie's face paled considerably. "But that's not where you're moving." He said looking back down to his reading. "You'll be moving into my house with the other maids."

This time both her eyebrows shot up. "_Other _maids?"

"Hmm? Oh yes, you'll be putting yourself to use rather than just sitting in the cage and being another mouth to feed. This way, you'll actually be working off all the debt you owe to me. It was Cockerell's idea actually." He said nonchalantly.

Basta heard Meggie grumble something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like "The day just keeps getting better and better."

But he had to agree with her. Almost every idea that Cockerell came up with was something that benefited him. Capricorn turned the page before looking back up at Basta. "Go ahead and take her to her new quarters.

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading! Don't forget to review. Remember what I said above! All your reviews make me not grumpy, and lets face it, none of you want a grumpy teenaged girl on your hands.<strong>


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